Sick Djokovic blows his nose then blows Zverev away
Novak Djokovic overcame an illness – and Alexander Zverev – to earn a second straight win at the ATP Finals.
Despite requiring a tissue to blow his nose between points, Djokovic beat Zverev 6-4, 6-1 to close in on a spot in the semi-finals at the seasonending tournament.
“Unfortunately today hasn’t been great in terms of that [illness],” Djokovic said. “Somehow I managed to gather the strength when I needed it.”
The five-time champion from Serbia saved two break points at 4-4 in the opening set and then broke Zverev in the following game to take the lead. Zverev won only one more game.
“Maybe he was a little bit sick or something like that,” Zverev said. “But he still played like he felt at his absolute best. That’s kind of all that matters.”
The top-ranked Djoko- vic and third-seeded Zverev engaged in a number of thrilling exchanges early on, but it wasn’t until the ninth game that Zverev earned the first break point of the match, aided by a friendly net cord. Djokovic saved it with a service winner but then doublefaulted to give the 21-yearold another opportunity.
Zverev played a great defensive forehand slice to set up a chance to finish the point with a backhand lob, but his attempt drifted just wide and Djokovic held on for 5-4.
Zverev then made a spate of errors in the next game to bring up set point for Djokovic, and doublefaulted to hand the Serb the lead. The German rallied from 0-30 down in his next service game to hold, but that was the last of his resistance.
Djokovic broke for a 3-1 lead and then lost just one more point to ensure all seven matches at the tournament have ended in straight sets.